IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 159 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current record 

breaking wealth gap is a national problem for the nation’s economic 

security, and that broad-based, generational and systemic inequities continue to distort economic progress and opportunity for tens of millions 

of Americans -especially low and middle-income Americans and communities of color. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2015 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MEEKS, 

Mr. RANGEL, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. BASS, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. MOORE, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

CLAY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. 

JEFFRIES, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. CHU of 

California, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PLASKETT, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. DELANEY, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. 

EDWARDS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. 

BROWN of Florida, Mr. LYNCH, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 

and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the current record breaking wealth gap is a national 

problem for the nation’s economic security, and that 

broad-based, generational and systemic inequities conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Mar 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\HR159.IH HR159

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•HRES 159 IH 

tinue to distort economic progress and opportunity for 

tens of millions of Americans -especially low and middleincome Americans and communities of color. 

Whereas wealth is the difference between the value of a family’s assets and debts, and is considered a measure of a 

family’s ability to buy a home, start a businesses, sustain 

emergencies, fund educational goals, provide intergenerational inheritance, and save for retirement; 

Whereas wealth inequality has reached a record level high 

and has become a central concern over whether the 

United States is on a sustainable economic path; 

Whereas, in 1983, when the Federal Reserve first started collecting wealth data, upper-income household wealth was 

$318,000, middle-income household was $94,300 and 

lower-income household wealth was $11,400; 

Whereas, since 1983, upper-income household wealth has 

doubled to $639,400, middle-income household wealth 

has risen by roughly $2,000 to $96,500 and lower-income 

household wealth has decreased by over $2,000 and is 

currently $9,300; 

Whereas upper-income household wealth is currently 6.6 

times higher than the wealth of middle-income households 

and is nearly 70 times that of the Nation’s lower-income 

households; 

Whereas the wealthiest 20% of the population holds over 

80% of the Nation’s wealth and the top 1% possess approximately 37% of the Nation’s wealth; 

Whereas households in the bottom 10% declined from having 

no wealth in 1963 to being roughly $2,000 in debt in 

2013; 


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•HRES 159 IH 

Whereas the current wealth gap between upper-income households and the rest of the country is the widest gap experienced in 30 years since the Federal Reserve began collecting this data; 

Whereas the decline in wealth of the Nation’s middle and 

lower class has not been shared equally across demographic groups and the wealth gap between communities 

of color and Whites, commonly known as the racial 

wealth gap, is also widening; 

Whereas according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 

the average wealth level for White households is 

$134,000—as compared to $91,000 for Asians, $14,000 

for Latinos, and $11,000 for African-Americans, which 

makes the median wealth of White households 13 times 

the median wealth of Black households, and more than 

10 times the median wealth of Latino households; 

Whereas the median liquid wealth for African-American 

households is $200, $340 for Latinos, $19,500 for 

Asians, and $23,000 for whites; 

Whereas, in 2013, White households had $100,000 more in 

liquid retirement savings than African-American or 

Latino households, who held roughly $19,000 and 

$12,000 in liquid retirement savings, respectively; 

Whereas wealth in America is primarily accumulated through 

home equity and making home ownership an important 

strategy of financial stability and moving families out of 

poverty, especially for middle class families and communities of color; 

Whereas in 2007, homeownership accounted for 65% of middle-income household wealth and 32% for upper-income 

household wealth; 


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•HRES 159 IH 

Whereas, prior to 2007, for African-American households, 

homeownership constituted 92% of their wealth and 67% 

of Latino household wealth, compared to 58% of wealth 

for White households; 

Whereas the current unprecedented wealth gap was fueled by 

the Great Recession of 2007–2009 when home prices fell 

by 24%, $10 trillion was lost in the stock market, almost 

5 million homes fell into foreclosure, and the Nation experienced general financial decline; 

Whereas during the Great Recession, upper-income household 

wealth declined by 17%, while middle-income household 

wealth declined by 39%, and low-income household 

wealth declined by 41%; 

Whereas the Great Recession had the most profound impact 

on African-Americans whose wealth declined by approximately 52%, and Latino households whose wealth declined by 66%, compared to a 16% decrease in wealth for 

White households; 

Whereas the Great Recession reduced the value of homes disproportionately for minorities as the average real home 

values for Latino homeowners decreased nearly $100,000 

or 35% and nearly $69,000 or 31% for African-American 

homeowners, while the average home values for White 

homeowners fell 15% over this same period; 

Whereas upper-income households have largely recouped 

much of their losses from the Great Recession, while 

middle- and lower-income households and people of color 

have yet to experience the effects of the Nation’s economic recovery; 


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•HRES 159 IH 

Whereas 95% of economic gains during the recovery period 

from the Great Recession went to the top 1% of the population; 

Whereas, during the recovery, the median wealth of White 

households increased by 2.4% from $138,600 to 

$141,900, while the median wealth of African-American 

households fell 33.7%, from $16,600 to $11,000 and the 

median wealth for Latino households decreased by 

14.3%, from $16,000 to $13,700; 

Whereas upper-income families were largely able to weather 

the storm of the Great Recession due to an ability to invest in the stock market and other financial products, 

which have been the primary source of much of the Nation’s gains in wealth since the economic crisis; 

Whereas, in 2007, the wealthiest 20% of households held 

15% of their wealth in investments, stocks, and other 

similar financial products, the wealthiest 1% of households held 25% of their wealth in investments and stocks, 

and middle-income households held just 3% of their 

wealth in similar stocks, investments, and other financial 

products; 

Whereas wages and income largely determine a family’s ability to invest in the stock market; 

Whereas middle- and low-income households and communities 

of color have experienced wage stagnation requiring them 

to spend the majority of their income on everyday items 

and basic needs, as opposed to investment in the stock 

market, which has recovered and generated wealth more 

quickly than the housing market; 

Whereas, since 1979, middle-wage workers’ hourly wages 

have risen 6%, low-wage workers’ wages have decreased 


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•HRES 159 IH 

5%, and upper-wage workers have experienced a 41% 

wage increase; 

Whereas, from 1980–2013, households with the top 1% of income experienced wage growth at a rate of 138%, while 

wages of households in the bottom 90% experienced wage 

growth at a rate of 15%; 

Whereas, CEOs now make 296 times what a typical worker 

earns; 

Whereas income inequality also falls along racial lines as during the years of economic recovery, the median income of 

minority households fell 9% compared to a decrease of 

just 1% for White households, leaving minority households with less money to replenish savings and invest in 

the stock market even after the Great Recession; 

Whereas President Barack Obama has stated that the growing inequality in our country and lack of upward mobility 

for the middle class is the ‘‘defining challenge of our 

time’’; 

Whereas Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, has warned 

that income inequality is a ‘‘very serious problem’’; 

Whereas a September 2014 study by Harvard Business 

School, titled, ‘‘An Economy Doing Half Its Job’’ stated 

that the growing disparity between the very wealthy and 

the lower and middle classes is no longer sustainable; 

Whereas in a draft statement, the Group of 20 finance officials, commonly known as G–20, for the first time 

warned that growing income inequality could harm economic growth; and 

Whereas economists at the International Monetary Fund 

have argued that higher inequality is correlated with 

lower and less, long-lasting growth: Now, therefore, be it 


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1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes that all families need to be eco3 nomically secure to create opportunities for their 

4 children and the Nation’s next generation; 

5 (2) recognizes that wealth and income inequal6 ity hurt economic growth and risks economic secu7 rity for individual families, our communities, and the 

8 Nation as a whole; 

9 (3) supports the elimination of the wealth gap 

10 and the racial wealth gap as national economic secu11 rity priorities; and 

12 (4) acknowledges that Congress has a responsi13 bility to implement thoughtful, proven and prag14 matic policy strategies to eliminate the wealth gap 

15 and the racial wealth gap. 

Æ 


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